Aztec Eternals

On the west side of Haiti Island, Gonaf Bay, Taino Marion Tribe.

"Oh God! Such a big village! This should be the largest village we have seen along the way? Such large fields and fish ponds, rows of thatched houses, and several large wooden long houses... This is simply a small town with at least two or three thousand people!"

"Bless the Virgin Mary! Everyone be alert! Don't drop anchor, lower the sails and wait for a while, try to contact the local natives... But be ready to leave at any time!..."

Bruno stood at the bow of the flagship, looking at the villages and towns on the shore, the center of the West Stone Tribe, the Marion Tribe. In the local natives, it has another name, "Gonaibo", which is the origin of Gonaf in the Spanish name. And the later Gonaf Bay was named after it. As for the meaning of this word, it is "the important place where Kasike (Kasike/cazique) is located", that is, "the seat of the great chief"!

"Ancestors! The white-skinned demons really appeared in a big ship just as predicted!..."

"May the gods of the West protect you! Hurry, run! Report to the chief and the new shaman...!"

After seeing the fleet appear, the small fishing boats on the beach fled to the villages in panic. Then, the entire village was mobilized and hundreds of young men with spears were gathered. The young men shouted in confusion at first, but under the stern scolding of dozens of backbone militiamen, they gradually formed a crude formation.

The front formation was large and dense, with rows of militiamen holding short spears, and the back formation was smaller and loose, with dozens of militia archers holding hunting bows, blowing arrows, throwing stones and spears. The village militia behind the formation did not line up on the beach, nor did they try to intimidate the big ship. They just kept guarding the fire pit in the center of the village, and maintained a defensive posture at a farther distance where the artillery lost its accuracy. The hostility did not seem strong.

"Hmm? The natives in this village seem to be very organized! They can form a formation, even the most crude and simple formation, which is better than all the tribes we met before! This level of organization seems to be similar to the large native tribes in the southern continent..."

"Boss! Look, they actually have iron spears! Some people are wearing simple leather armor!... Hey! There are also golden spears? Could it be bronze? Their leather armor is also more refined, they must be the chiefs of the natives!..."

".?!..."

Bruno widened his eyes and observed carefully for a long time. He found that there were indeed three different types of people in the native team.

The first type is the young men who account for 90%, holding stone spears and bone spears, without even cloth clothes, a large yellow area. The second type is about 10% of the militia, wearing simple leather armor and holding gray-black iron spears. As for the last third type, it is estimated that they are the chiefs who command the battle. There are only seven or eight of them in total, but they all wear relatively sophisticated leather armor, hold golden bronze spears, and about half of them carry long bows.

"Holy Mother! This village... well, is a powerful native tribe! Pass the order to maintain a friendly attitude and do not fire randomly, especially the Silveira ship!..."

"Arrange another sailor to row a small boat to the shore and bring some gifts! Just leave them on the shore and let the natives take them!..."

"Adjust the bow! If the natives row their boats to attack us... immediately sail to the deep sea and leave at full speed along the familiar route we came from!..."

The first contact between the Portuguese fleet and the Marion tribe was not smooth, but better than expected. Sailor Big John carefully placed a bag of glass beads and two bright hats on the shore, and then quickly fled back to the ship. Soon, the native tribe sent someone to pick up these things.

Then, it seemed that the gifts played some role. After a full hour of confrontation, two natives came out of the village nervously, placed some shell pearls, cassava fruits, and a piece of gold dust the size of a fingernail on the shore, which made all the sailors' eyes light up! The gold dust was placed on the brown-gray cassava, reflecting the moving golden light!

"Lord! What is this? Is this a return gift from the natives?! They, they actually have gold!!..."

Although it was only a few dozen grams of gold dust, this golden "little thing" was brought back to the Caravel sailboat, and the sailors on the whole ship were shocked! They stared at the gold dust in Bruno's hand with extremely eager eyes, as if they were looking at some "holy relic of the church"... In just a moment, the morale of the entire fleet was aroused, and the ordinary native villages and towns on the shore seemed to be covered with a layer of attractive golden light!

"Boss! Knight Silveira sent sailors over! He asked if the natives had given us a piece of gold just now. If there was gold, should we open fire to attack the native villages? He said that the distance was a bit far and his two-pound cannon couldn't reach it. He had to ask the flagship's eight-pound cannon to come, or transport the two-pound cannon to the shore..."

"Damn it! Tell that idiot Silveira! Let him control his hands and his men! This native village is definitely not something we can take down with less than 40 people!... What's more, this is the first large native tribe that is willing to communicate with us and has shown goodwill... Be honest! Don't think about looting, we are civilized people blessed by God! Take out some rare things from the natives and see if we can exchange them!..."

After Bruno's reprimand, he repeated the orders of "be friendly" and "be alert" to the entire fleet. Then, he pondered for a long time and decided to send the most flexible boatswain Haroldo to the shore with the translator Shushu to try to communicate with the natives again.

"Haroldo! You know how to be friendly... This time, send two sharp sailor's scimitars to the native chief! Aren't they fighting with the two tribes in the south? They will definitely like such gifts, just like those tribes in the southern continent!..."

"Then, let the guide shout to the natives! Use our weapons to exchange some native food! It's best to use dried fish that can be stored for a long time. If not, use the soaked white paste powder! That thing is very filling, but it's too easy to spoil."

"Also, keep an eye on the guide Shushu! Don't let him talk too much... Pay attention to the changes in the natives' expressions! Well, just in case!..."

"Yes! Boss!..."

Amid the confrontation and vigilance of both sides, the second contact began again. Haroldo took Shushu closer and came to the edge of the village fence. The militiamen in the village were in a commotion and seemed to rush over to fight, but they were stopped by the backbone and the "headman".

Under the gaze of hundreds of eyes, Haroldo put down the two scimitars in his hands from a distance of one or two hundred steps, and made a gesture of giving. Then, he patted Shushu hard, as if pressing a mechanism that could speak, and Shushu shouted loudly.

"Ancestors bless us! We are a friendly tribe and a fleet of friends! Our god is the benevolent cross god, who likes peace and blessings! We have no ill will towards the chief here, but are full of respect and are willing to give gifts to friends!..."

"These two sharp weapons are gifts from our Kapitang leader to the chief of the tribe! We have more such sharp weapons that can be provided to our friend's tribe... and we hope to get food as a return gift! Preferably dried fish..."

The guide Shushu shouted loudly many times in Taino. The native village seemed to be in commotion again, accompanied by shouting in various Taino languages. As Shushu listened, his face changed significantly. He lowered his head unconsciously, not knowing what he heard.

"Huh? Shushu, what did they say just now?..."

"Ah!..."

Shushu shuddered all over, and when he looked up, he saw Haroldo's round face staring at him with a fake smile. He swallowed nervously and answered in a low voice in stuttering Portuguese.

"...They scolded me, calling me a white-skinned evil... The guide fish of the white-skinned tribe not only helps sharks find prey, but also eats the rotten meat between sharks' teeth... After I die, my soul will fall into the deepest seabed and will never swim out!..."

".Huh?... Guide fish and sharks? The soul will never swim out?..."

Haroldo raised his eyebrows and found these natives' novel metaphors very interesting. The natives here don't seem to know purgatory. Is it related to the devil? …He thought for a moment, smiled, patted Shushu on the shoulder, and comforted him.

“Shushu, don’t be afraid! You have converted to God. Your soul will be saved by God after death, and will not be captured by the devil in the sea!…”

“By the way, ask again, try to ask a few questions! See if they still have gold? If so, we can exchange some more, more… um! Exchange them with excellent leather armor!…”